Hurricane Irma continues to raise the bar in the threshold of hurricane power. Firstly setting a new record for strongest Atlantic hurricane outside of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to a tie with Florida Keys 1935, Gilbert 1988 and Wilma 2005 for 2nd strongest in Atlantic based on 185 mph sustained winds. Allen 1980 has winds of 190 mph.

However… Irma has now set a new WORLD RECORD for having uninterrupted sustained winds of 185 mph for 33 hours. The previous record was 24 hours with Haiyan in 2013!

#Irma has now had winds of 185 mph for 33 hrs – no other TC around the globe has been this strong for so long in satellite era (since 1966). pic.twitter.com/RKorceW6nS

Irma became the first Category 5 in the tropical Atlantic since Hugo 1989.

With a pressure of 914mb, Irma is the strongest Atlantic Hurricane outside of the western Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico and deepest throughout the Atlantic basin since Dean 2007 and 10th deepest since the beginning of the satellite era.

It also appears to have been the strongest ever landfall for the Leeward Islands with reports of the tiny island of Barbuda all but wiped out. Saint Martin was severely hit but Antigua largely spared.